EU announces halt in Zimbabwe funding after Mnangagwa assents to PVO Amendment Bill
By Staff Reporter
European Union has announced it will discontinue its planned governance funding that was targeted for Zimbabwe in 2025 in response to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s recent decision to sign the controversial PVO Amendment Bill into substantive law.
The dreaded law is feared it will stifle the operations of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and further shrink the civic space in Zimbabwe.
Civil society organisations, a majority operating under US and European donor funding, are expected to come in actively in putting down Mnangagwa’s plans to amend the constitution and remove presidential term limits to benefit the incumbent’s plans to secure another term in office..
Under Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe introduced the law ostensibly to “counter terrorism and prohibit political lobbying by non-governmental organizations.”
However, civic society organizations have criticized the law, asserting that it seeks to curtail their activities through stringent measures that would place them under direct government supervision.
This supervision includes monitoring financial transactions and granting the state the authority to shut down NGOs deemed to be acting against government interests.
In a post on X Saturday, EU ambassador to Zimbabwe, Johst von Kirchmann lamented the operationalisation of the PVO Amendment Bill and further announced the discontinuing of ithe bloc’s planned targeted 2025 funding to this country.
“Zimbabwe has over USD 21 billion in debt and arrears with bilateral and multilateral creditors,” von Kirchmann said.
“Several years ago, the Government of Zimbabwe initiated a commendable arrears clearance and debt resolution process. It is disappointing to see that Zimbabwe has not upheld its own commitments under this process, particularly regarding the expansion of civic space.
“The enactment of the PVO Amendment Bill, without concluding consultations to address the concerns of civil society organizations, has further reinforced negative trends in governance.
“As a consequence, the European Union has decided to discontinue its planned targeted 2025 funding in support of the government’s good governance initiatives under the structured dialogue framework.”
The withholding of the EU fund from a country highly dependent on donor funding will impact strongly on ordinary citizens coming on the heels of a recent US government move to halt a lot of its humanitarian initiatives that were being funded by the superpower under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
USAID’s funding to Zimbabwe which ran into millions of dollars annually, supported a wide array of programmes spanning health, agriculture and governance sectors.
The US grants have been instrumental in addressing critical issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention, food security, and women empowerment.
